Ancient Rome 6Tom Connolly, Marlisha Syvrerain, Rohan Konda, Rose WarrenWorld History IMr. Sanborn

Introduction

According to Roman Legends the twin sons of Mars, Romulus and Remus, were left abandoned to die but were found and raised by a wolf. Once they had grown they decided to found a new settlement but could not decide who to be king so they both stood on hills to consult the gods Romulus saw 12 vultures and Remus saw six. Each claimed to be king so they fought during which Romulus killed Remus and became king. The roman region was habited by at least the 8th century B.C. as a small village belonging to the Latin People. By 6th century B.C. Rome was under Etruscan rule till 509 B.C.,the start of the Roman Republic. The Roman republic ended in 133 B.C. when the assassinated dictator's, Caesar,son ascended the the throne as Emperor Augustus. This became the the start of the Roman Empire.




Map of Italy:

Government

The Republic
Rome began as a small village. Under Etruscan rule, Rome did not have its own government until 509 B.C. when Rome finally defeated the Etruscan's. They developed their republic so that power would be divided among the people, so that no one would have all the power like the hated king of Etruscan. The senate held most of the power, consisting of 300 wealthy land owners. Also having power were two consuls. Like the senate, they were wealthy land owners. They lead the government and military, and were limited to one term each in order to avoid a supreme ruler, however Romans were not blind to the advantages of a suprime ruler. In times of war, a dictator could be appointed to have complete control over the government for 6 months.

Later in the republic, lower class citizens demanded rights. They were then able to elect their own officials called tribunes. Although the senate still held the majority of the power, the tribunes were able to stop laws that endangered rights. The lower class slowly forced rights, evenutally allowing them to hold a seat in the senate.


The Empire
War tore the Roman Republic to pieces. As loot came in from foreign land, a new wealthy class emerged. Previously, corruption was controlled by the republic, but as people became richer, greed overtook honesty. Messy civil wars tore through the empire over power, and one great ruler emerged. Julius Caesar betrayed Rome, and instead of disbanding his army after a military campaign in France, Caesar swept through the empire with his army, forcing the senate into making him dictator. To preserve the republic, Caesar was stabbed to death, making the empire fall once more into civil war. Ultimately, the murder of Caesar did not save the republic. Octavian, Caesars grandnephew picked up where he left off, making himself king, just stripped of the title so the Roman people would not be outraged. Following Augustus were a string of emperors, until the division of the empire. Because there was no system to replace an emperor once he died, the transition was often bloody.


Military
Rome was almost always at war. From Carthage to Gaul, the Romans needed a strong army for everything from conquest to civil turmoil. Much of the Romans success can b attributed to the integral roll the army played. In the beginning of the Republic, soldiers were a farmer militia who would fight then return to their farms. They had new tactics, fighting as a group instead of a mass of chaotic individuals. Centuries made of 100 men made a basic fighting unit, usually in a tight phalanx formation with a formidable wall of long spears facing the enemy. As the empire grew, farmers could no longer serve in all the empires wars and keep up with their farms. Professional soldiers then made up the military, being paid wages instead of simply doing their civic duty. The Romans needed to keep up a large army, and so incentives for forengers to join were enacted, such as provinding citizenship upon retirement. This lead to the army being primarily forigners. Less than 1% of the Roman military was actually Roman.

• century's made of 100
• first farmers
• Phlanx effective on plains (tight, big spears)
• Professional soldiers as empire got bigger
• foreniers make up most of the army later in empire,
• wealthy made into leaders
• millitary divided into provinces
• Perminaint garrisons created to guard borders and help attack, towns form around
• "defensive" wars lead to (massive) territory gain

Sources:

"Roman Army." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 16 Sept. 2011.

Economy

The economical success of the Roman Empire is largely due to their ideal location. Trade by sea over the Mediterranean or by roads created for military use allowed the empire to trade with Persia, Russia, and even India and China. The Romans were largely dependent on agriculture, the majority of the population were farmers. This allowed for the distribution of free grain to the poor, as a large percentage of people were unemployed. Additionally, one third of people were enslaved, making it an essential part of the economy. To trade, the Romans used a silver coin called a denarius during the reign of Augustus. Rich Romans could afford exotic meats and vegetables, and while the poor could not afford such luxuries, a staple in the Roman diet was grain. The Romans also used olive oil an spices to flavor their food; bread was served at almost every meal. Later in the Roman Empire, as their borders ceased to expand, the flow of recources from conquests stopped. This struck a large blow to the economy, forcing increased taxes to cover the loss of revenue which was a large factor in the demise of the empire.

Roman Religion

Many of the Roman gods were based off the Greek gods

• Jupiter was the god of the sky and the king of the gods was based off Zeus
• Mars was the god of war and based off Ares
• Juno was the god of women and fertility and based off Hera
• Minerva was the god of crafts and art and based off Athena
• Neptune was the God of the sea and based of Poseidon
• Saturn was god of agriculture and protector of harvests and based on Cronos
• Tellus was god of earth and based on Gaia
• Mercury was the god of travellers and messenger of the gods and based of hermes
  

  external image jupiter.jpg

  external image marsstatue.jpg

Jupiter god of the sky Mars god of war

-Mystery Religions

• Many Romans became part of "Mystery Religions"
• Cult of Isis originated from Egypt
• Cult of Mithras originated from Persia

external image isisblueredwings.gif

Egyptian god Isis

- Christianity

• Started during the Roman empire under the emperor Augustus
• The religion was persecuted because of suspected disloyalty to Rome because they refused to honor the Roman Gods
• Emperor Constantine ended Persecution of christianity in 313 A.D. by issuing Edict of Milian
• Edict of Milian allowed freedom to worship any god for all citizen in the roman empire
• Emperor Theodosius made christianity the official religion of Rome about 80 years after Edict of Milian
  

  external image rome_a6.jpg

Roman Mosaic of Christ

-Emperors

• The emperors were seen as God's representative on earth before and after Rome's conversion to christianity

Sources:

"Roman religion." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 16 Sept. 2011.
"Athena." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 16 Sept. 2011.
"Christianity." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 16 Sept. 2011.
"Saturn." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 16 Sept. 2011.
"Ceres." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 16 Sept. 2011.
"Romulus and Remus." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 19 Sept. 2011.
"Roman Republic." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 19 Sept. 2011.

Prentice Hall World History Connections to Today volume 1

Art

• Greco-Roman culture is all three, Hellenistic, Greek and Roman, cultures mashed together to become one large culture. Romans took aspects from all three of those cultures and adapted it to their own.
• Roman sculptures were more to be actual people. They were used to teach people, and show people what other people and things looked like.

A bas-relief roman sculpture. It has a flat background.

• Some Roman poetry was used to boast about Rome. An example would be the famous poet Virgil, who wrote the Aeneid. This was a book in tribute Rome and Romans, and how they were better that Greece.
• Many houses had large paintings painted directly onto a wall. They were called frescoes.

A frescoe

Sources:

Holt McDougal. Ancient World History

Technology

The Romans invented many things that we use to this day, such as concrete or the arch. Concrete is one of the more prominent creations of Roman times, because it was such a breakthrough with technology. Also, Romans had the most efficient working aqueducts out of most civilizations. They brought water through out most of Rome.

Aqueducts in Rome

Also the roads of rome were quite sturdy, they were built very strong. Their architecture was stunning for the time period, too. The arch was a leap in technology. It's one of the most secure structures you can use because it can hold up so much weight. The Colosseum was a huge stadium, used for many events. It was such a large structure, and a huge progress in technology.

The Colosseum

Society
Rome society is based on social classes which were patrician,plebeians,and slaves.

• Patricians: Patricians people were the most known and (rich) powerful people in Rome. The only way you can be one of them is if you where born into the family and also citizenship. They also were in charge of overthrowing the Rome's Kings and these people only made up 10% of the population in Rome.
• Plebeians: Plebeians were the average people (middle class) of Rome with fewer citizen then patricians.They would work as shoemakers, small landowners,and craftsman.
• Slaves: Slaves were talked about rudely and would be called ugly and lazy. For every three people one of them would be slaves. They would work at farms,factories, go to war, and some other jobs.

Public Baths: Publics Baths are just like public swimming pools now. Mostly plebeians want to the public baths because patricians have there own in there homes. Since tons of people would go there (especially when it was really really) the baths would get really crowded and gross.

*FOOD*: Food also depended on how wealth you were. The patricians would be able to afford meat,fish and different types of spices.The plebeians and lower classes could only afford bread, cereal, cheese, olive oil, and wine.




Intro- Rohan Konda
Map- Marlisha Syverain
G- Tom ConnollyR- Rohan KondaE-Tom ConnollyA- Rose WarrenT- Rose WarrenS- Marlisha Syverain